Bill’s Word – In Full Swing

Dear Friend,

School is back in full swing. This week may be the biggest Adopt A Classroom distribution week in the history of AEF with more than 40 teachers receiving the $500 gift card (on top of close to 40 in September). Thank you donors – you are making a difference in the lives of many of our students! We always welcome Adopt A Classroom donations, including ones that do not specify a teacher that we can present to teachers most in need throughout the Island.

We just dropped off several donated musical instruments from our Equipped 4 Success school supply drive to Mr. Reis, Music Director at Wood Middle School. It is interesting that Wood has had only two music teachers/directors in its 40 year history, which is very unique and rare.

The best part of what I do is make teachers and students smile. We certainly made three math teachers smile recently as we gave Alameda, Encinal and ASTI high schools 10 graphing calculators each to help students in need who are taking advanced math classes. This donation was also made possible by the success of Equipped 4 Success.

Fall also means AEF middle school volleyball is in full swing. Under the leadership of our athletic director Marty Garchar the season is going quite well. Volleyball playoffs and championships are coming up in early November. You can check out the full schedule here .

Currently we have over 170 After School Enrichment classes going on for Alameda students in Mandarin, band, chorus, chess, karate and much more. On October 19th, we held a non-student day camp and we will be offering winter break camps January 2 – 4, 2012. Watch out for the flier coming soon.

Mark your calendars! On Saturday, November 3rd, we will be celebrating as Alameda accepts the award from America’s Promise Alliance honoring Alameda as one of the nation’s 100 Best Communities for Young People for the third consecutive year! The celebration will be from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Alameda Boys and Girls Club (1900 Third St.). In addition to the award presentation, there will be food, entertainment and workshops on Cyberbullying. Alameda has many programs, activities and services for youth, which is one of the reasons it is such a wonderful community for our young people. I am proud that AEF has helped our community to receive this honor, along with many other strong Alameda programs and organizations.

Then on Friday, November 9th, it’s time we all kick up our heels a little bit with an evening of live entertainment and dancing. “Going to a Go Go” stars Talk of Da Town, featuring Haight School’s Andrew Lockwood; The Devil-Ettes; and MC Pete Fletcher and his Hand-Picked Oldies. Tickets are $30 and include complimentary light fare and a no host bar. A portion of proceeds will benefit music, art and drama in Alameda public schools. The event is from 7:00 pm – 11:00 PM at the Elks Lodge ballroom, 2255 Santa Clara Ave. Purchase your tickets here.

We also have a date for our spring celebration of schools – Salute to Education will be on Friday, April 19, 2013 at Rock Wall Winery. Enjoy the Alameda High and Encinal High Jazz bands against the beautiful backdrop of the San Francisco skyline while socializing with colleagues, friends, community leaders as we honor the inspiring work being done in our schools.